Seminar on Capacity-building for the Development and Operation of Dry Ports of International Importance

ESCAP’s Seminar on Dry Ports of International Importance took place at the United Nations Conference Center, Bangkok, on 18 and 19 March 2014 with the support of UIC and the Government of the Russian Federation. Coming after the signing of the Intergovernmental Agreement on Dry Ports by 14 members States on 7 November 2013, the seminar was meant to be a networking event between government officials and high-level experts, involved in the planning, design, development and operation of dry ports of international importance.

Experts and participants took an active part in the seminar and showed agreement on the fact that the dry ports concept offers countries opportunities to improve their logistics industry, facilitate complementarity between different transport modes and reduce transport costs. They also recognized that the development of dry ports touches upon institutional as well as technical matters and therefore that the process – to be successful – requires the involvement of a broad spectrum of stakeholders in both the public and private sectors. They agreed that the implementation of projects can start on a limited scale with infrastructure and facilities being gradually expanded as volumes grow.

Developed under the aegis of ESCAP, the Intergovernmental Agreement on Dry Ports is opened for signature at UN headquarters in New York until 31 December 2014. It complements the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Asian Highway Network that entered into force in July 2005 and the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway Network that entered into force in June 2009. All three Agreements are administered by ESCAP.